WHITEHALL — Stroudsburg will have to wait at least another year to try and win the District 11 Class AAA field hockey title.

A berth in the PIAA tournament is just two days away, though, and the Mounties will have to put a disappointing loss behind them quickly.

Top-seeded Emmaus claimed its 24th straight district title with a 5-1 victory over the No. 2 Mounties at Whitehall High School on Sunday night.

Stroudsburg will play District 2 champion Coughlin at Hazleton High School at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in the opening round of the state tournament. It's the second time the Mounties have reached states under coach Jen Lobasso, the last berth coming in 2008.

Getting over Sunday's loss won't be easy for Stroudsburg's coach or their players.

"We haven't been in a situation like this all year," Lobasso said. "You need to give credit to Emmaus, they're the better team. There's no doubt about it. I don't think they're four goals better, but they're better."

Coming into the game, Lobasso felt this could be the year Stroudsburg would upend the perennial power. It wasn't to be.

Emmaus (22-1) took a 2-0 lead 10 minutes into the game, and turned up the pressure to start the second half with a pair of goals in the first nine minutes of play to take a 4-0 advantage.

The Mounties (20-3) managed just four shots on goal against the Green Hornets, who will play District 1 fifth-place finisher Mount Saint Joseph's at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night in Whitehall.

"Part of our game plan was to get a nice, quick start, not allow them to and that kind of took the wind out of our sails," Lobasso said.

Emmaus looked every bit the team that has owned the sport in District 11.

The Hornets have lost just one game this year — that coming on grass against Liberty, where they hammered the Hurricanes on the statistical sheet, but not the scoreboard.

Emmaus has allowed just five goals all season and Stroudsburg's lone goal with 12:06 to play by Brittany Thornton came off a penalty corner.

Sunday's loss could be good motivation for the Mounties, who turn their attention to states and Coughlin.

"It's the start of a new season and it's a learning tool," Lobasso said. "We've been very fortunate being 20-2 and the two losses we had during the season, we redeemed by beating those teams.

"It's the start of a new season. A lot can happen and hopefully they understand that we've got to do better than this all around."